"Ah, the forest feels so much better." After entering the Forest of Death, Naruto sighed. For Naruto, whose childhood was spent almost entirely searching for food in the woods, entering the forest actually made him more energized.
"Some idiot who doesn't know death followed us. Just one person - doesn't look like he's carrying a scroll." Ignoring the abnormally energetic Naruto having a fit beside him, Sasuke spoke. Some Rain Village passerby wearing a diving mask was casually taken down by Sasuke without even realizing it.
"There should still be quite a few teams remaining. Naruto, should we fight quickly to gather the scrolls fast, or eliminate as many potential enemies as possible?" Although Sasuke was unwilling to admit it, in reality, among Team Kakashi's trio, Naruto was actually the leader.
Not because of Naruto's strength, but because Naruto as a person had earned Sasuke's recognition. Otherwise, with pride reaching the heavens and super strong self-esteem, how could Sasuke possibly ask Naruto's opinion?
"Of course we'll— hm?" Some dangerous presence - this feeling was intense malice!
Seeming to sense something, Naruto's expression suddenly became tense as he looked around. "Gulp." With a swallow, Naruto had probably realized one thing - the three of them were being watched, and the opponent was someone terrifyingly powerful.
"What's wrong, Naruto? Being paranoid?" Noticing Naruto's abnormality, Sasuke casually stepped forward and patted Naruto's shoulder, but actually leaned his head toward Naruto's ear.
"Discovered anything unusual?"
"We're being watched. That person gives me a feeling of at least that Kakuzu's level from last time." Looking forward, Naruto's pupils suddenly contracted sharply.
"The opponent's already here."
A person wearing a straw hat with a slender figure - judging from the clothing, should be a Grass ninja. More accurately, should be Orochimaru disguised as Grass ninja.
But how could Grass Village have such a powerful ninja? And participating in the chunin exam? Are you sure you're not kidding me?
"At minimum Kakuzu's level." Hearing Naruto's assessment, even Sasuke was shocked, taking a sharp breath.
What level of ninja was Kakuzu? Completely crushing the Kakashi plus Zabuza combination. A top expert who could make Naruto go all out with just two clones.
A monster with comprehensive strength no less than Itachi's.
If before he didn't understand how great the gap between himself and Itachi was, after contacting Naruto, Sasuke deeply understood - the strength difference between himself and Itachi was definitely more than one level.
Even elite jonin as strong as Kakashi wasn't Itachi's match, and he who was completely no match for Kakashi was even more inadequate.
"Sasuke, Naruto, what are you whispering about?" Sakura, completely clueless about the situation, looked confused.
Well, Team Seven of Team Kakashi was the most peculiar team among all genin teams. All team configurations were two combat members plus one support - namely sensory-type ninjas.
But Team Kakashi's Team Seven - if not for Naruto's malice perception, probably not even half a sensory ninja among the three.
Well, sensory-type ninjas were relatively rare. But why was Team Eight where Hinata belonged all sensory types?!
Kiba, Hinata, Shino.
"Eh, Sasuke, there's someone ahead. He's alone. Although he looks strong, he shouldn't be a match for you and Naruto, right? How about taking him down and taking the scroll?" The confused Sakura, following their gazes, happened to see Orochimaru disguised as Grass ninja.
Indeed, Orochimaru without releasing his own presence looked quite formidable, but for Sakura who blindly worshiped Sasuke, these were small details that could be ignored. So, women in love...
Take down Orochimaru? Snatch scrolls from him? Really, ignorance is innocence.
"Hello there, hehehe." A long tongue extended from Orochimaru's mouth, giving everyone goosebumps.
However, such a long tongue - in a certain sense, should be a good thing for his future wife, if Orochimaru liked women.
"I have an Earth scroll. You have a Heaven scroll, right? Really want my scroll, don't you?" Orochimaru pulled out a scroll from somewhere and showed it to the three.
He probably still didn't know his abnormality had long been discovered by Naruto. A beast's sixth sense was terrifying, especially Naruto who inherited some of the Nine-Tails' abilities.
What Naruto and Sasuke were thinking now probably wasn't how to snatch the opponent's Earth scroll, but to quickly escape from this man.
With their strength, as long as they didn't face Orochimaru, they had absolute strength to completely win against any other group of examinees.
However, this guy before them probably wouldn't let them go so easily. From various signs, this guy was clearly coming for them.
"Then let's begin - the scroll battle." The long tongue wrapped around the scroll and swallowed it into his stomach.
Really made one's scalp tingle.
"Can't move... this feeling again, like I'll suffocate any moment. Really annoying!" It was killing intent - Orochimaru's killing intent. Compared to Orochimaru's killing intent, Zabuza's was like a child's.
Worthy of being a veteran Kage-level powerhouse, one of the legendary Sannin - Orochimaru.
However, the three had experienced the battle with Kakuzu! Although Orochimaru's killing intent was very powerful, the three who had been baptized by the Kakuzu battle could still move within this killing intent.
"Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!" "Wind Release: Great Breakthrough!"
"Combination Ninjutsu: High-Pressure Fire Cannon!" x2
Among the few long-range jutsu Naruto could use - Great Breakthrough and the Uchiha clan's most basic yet most strength-demonstrating Great Fireball Technique - their combined destructive power was definitely not as simple as one plus one.
This was the combination of wind and fire - wind fueling flames! The combination of high pressure and high temperature.
Destructive power was quite amazing.
Such a powerful strike directly hit the straw-hatted man in the distance.
A mushroom cloud, neither large nor small, slowly rose toward the sky.
"Wow, amazing! Worthy of Sasuke and Naruto! Took him down in one hit! Oh wait! That's not right - with this level of destruction, didn't that scroll he swallowed into his stomach also get destroyed?" Sakura, who had been half-paralyzed by Orochimaru's killing intent earlier, instantly recovered after seeing such a powerful technique from Sasuke and Naruto.
"Finished? No! He won't die from this kind of technique!" Sasuke said somewhat surprised. Though his mouth said "finished," he was very clear in his heart that this level of attack couldn't cause much threat to Kakuzu-level ninjas.
"Damn guy - that feeling hasn't weakened even a bit, meaning the opponent wasn't injured at all." Staring intently at the previous position, Naruto bit his fingernail fiercely.
Taking that level of attack yet completely unscathed.
"Oh! To have grown to this level. I really underestimated you!" A charred giant python and the unscathed straw-hatted Orochimaru emerged from within the python's body.
That's right - emerged, as if his body had fused with the python.
"No good - must go all out. Sasuke, fight without any reservations! This guy is just too strong." When facing Kakuzu's clones earlier, he didn't feel it, but truly facing this level of expert head-on made him realize how insignificant his strength was.
Even if he opened Nine-Tails mode, he probably couldn't beat him. Unless using the demon fox cloak - and a four-tailed or higher demon fox cloak.
But in that situation, his consciousness couldn't be preserved. Even if the Nine-Tails had no intention of controlling him, it wouldn't work. His spirit couldn't resist that degree of Nine-Tails chakra erosion. The moment four tails opened, his consciousness would temporarily vanish.
After all, it was because his training wasn't sufficient. Otherwise, why would Nine-Tails mode, clearly higher level than demon fox cloak, be inferior in strength increase speed? Half-baked Nine-Tails mode really wasn't good.
Must intensify training. This feeling of powerlessness... really pisses me off.
"Sharingan activated!" Two tomoe spun continuously. The right eye already showed signs of developing toward a third tomoe, but Sasuke hadn't noticed yet.
Unlike Naruto, Sasuke, who clearly knew how much strength he had, understood that once this battle reached the later stage, his usefulness would probably be no different from Sakura's.
"Nine-Tails Mode!" Golden-red chakra emerged from Naruto's body.
"Oh? Could this guy be the Nine-Tails jinchuriki? Uzumaki? I should have thought of it." When the Nine-Tails chakra appeared, Orochimaru understood Naruto's identity.
"Shadow Clone Jutsu!" Three identical Narutos with golden-red chakra burning on their bodies appeared before everyone.
Even Naruto, famous for chakra quantity, didn't dare casually waste chakra in Nine-Tails mode.
"Hmph, Summoning Jutsu!" Several giant pythons were again summoned by Orochimaru.
Although Naruto and Sasuke tried their utmost, Orochimaru was worthy of being one of the Sannin. From the beginning, he completely suppressed the two. Even in the later stage, when Sasuke's attacks could no longer cause even the slightest damage to Orochimaru, Orochimaru had the giant snakes he summoned "play" with Sasuke.
"Huff, huff... Weakened Version! Tailed Beast Cannon!" Several small black spheres condensed from Naruto's golden-red chakra arms.
The current Naruto was completely incomparable to the sixteen or seventeen-year-old Naruto from the original work. His body hadn't fully developed yet, so naturally his Nine-Tails mode wasn't as strong as the original at sixteen or seventeen.
In the original, Naruto in Nine-Tails mode could even activate Sage Mode simultaneously, and freely release all kinds of chaotic but explosively powerful jutsu like Planetary Rasengan, Super Mini Tailed Beast, Yin-Yang Release, Tailed Beast Ball Rasengan Shuriken.
But currently only twelve years old, releasing a few weakened Tailed Beast Cannons was already the limit of jutsu Naruto could perform.
(End of Chapter)
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